Aliyev: Sovereignty and respect for international law are Azerbaijan's core principles

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev criticised the selective application of international law and double standards in his speech at the opening of the VII World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku on 27 October 2026. He said that when law is subordinated to political interests, the standard of justice loses its objectivity and the equality of states before the law becomes a formal principle.

Aliyev noted that about 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognised territory remains under occupation, nearly one million Azerbaijanis have been displaced, and 65 mosques were destroyed in Karabakh. He said four UN Security Council resolutions adopted in 1993 went unimplemented for years. Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan has restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty, but that ending the conflict does not remove the injustice it caused.

Aliyev also called unacceptable any attempts to teach independent states how to live. He defined sovereignty as the right of a state to independently determine its political, economic, social and cultural development model, and said respect for other countries' internal affairs is a mutual obligation.